The invention relates to a bone plate, in particular for the application to fractures of the cranial and facial skeletons.
Such bone plates are shown in German Petty Patent 8528003 for instance. They consist of a physically compatible material such as e.g. titanium or a chromium cobalt molybdenum alloy. The relatively thin plates are strip-like in shape and provided with spaced-apart holes for receiving bone screws. They are designed such that they are deformable by the surgeon in order to conform to the bone in the region of application. It is also known to provide diminished webs located between the screw holes and having a cross-sectional area such that the cross-sectional area of the web is smaller than twice the cross-sectional area of the hole boundary. Thereby it is to be ensured that upon bending of the bone plate, in particular in its plane, the hole boundary is not bent. Rather, the bending resistance in the region of the webs is to be smaller than in the region of the screw hole boundary, so that substantially only bending of the webs occurs. It has been found, however, that on the one hand the webs must have a certain minimum strength and that on the other hand the width of the plates in the region of the screw hole boundary must not exceed certain values. There is therefore still the danger that upon bending of the bone plates, in particular such with very small dimensions, the screw hole boundary is also deformed.